


What if Señor Bun wasn't the first stuffed animal Jack shared a bed with?

by grey_ghost



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic), omgcheckplease
Genre: Anxiety, Bullying, Childhood, Gen, Overdose, i cried while writing this anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 12:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8055496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grey_ghost/pseuds/grey_ghost
Summary: When Bitty brings Señor Bun to stay in Providence, Jack is delighted that Bitty trusts him that much to reveal that part of himself. But it also brings back memories of his own stuffed friend, and how cruel people can really be.warnings for bullying and overdose





	What if Señor Bun wasn't the first stuffed animal Jack shared a bed with?

As a fourteen year old, Jack Zimmermann sat on a bus to Ottawa, on his way to play his first away game as a young hockey player. It was the first time he spent a night away from home without a parent, but he was excited. He was captain of the team and they were the top in their league, and he was happy.

   
Wedged deep in his bag, between his pyjamas and Uncle Marios biography was Jess, his old tattered Sheepdog. Missing an eye and reeking of his mothers Givenchy perfume after his toddler hands had learned to unscrew bottles and spill the contents everywhere, the old girl has seen better days, but to Jack she was perfect.

  
Alicia tried to tell Jack to leave her at home. Jack was already having a hard enough time with his team; even though he was captain, they teased him mercilessly about his weight, his squeaky breaking voice, and the acne that was plastered across his chin. He didn’t need them finding out that he slept with an old plushie, they would break his heart. But when Alicia tried to explain this to Jack, he felt his heart start to race and the weird shakes he got in his hands came back, the ones that he couldn’t stop and made his breathing go all funny. The idea of a night without Jess terrified him. Who else was going to be there for him when he woke up from his nightmares, face wet and bed wetter? She didn’t know who Bad Bob or all his uncles were, and how much of a disappointment Jack was to them, she loved him for who he was and didn’t shake her head and sigh when he missed easy shots at practice.

  
They lost the game that night. The players on the other team were all a foot taller and wider, and Jack was targeted from the first second by the broad shouldered defencemen. Coach Collins congratulated them afterwards, told them they played a great game and patted Jacks shoulder as he spoke, but Jack just stared hard at his socked feet, a hand buried deep in his bag clutching Jess’ soft body. He went straight to bed at the hotel and hid her under the blankets, and managed to wait until his roommate fell asleep before he started to cry. His heart ached as he imagined his Papas voice when he called in the morning, laden with barely hidden disappointment. Jacks breathing came hard and fast as he buried his face into Jess, and his nails bit into his wrist where he had them buried, the pain always made him feel better. It was hours before he finally exhausted himself enough to fall asleep.

   
On the bus home, Jack was silent. The boys around him joked and laughed, the loss almost took a weight off their shoulders- this was nothing but a pressure filled hobby for them. Jess was hidden beneath a gearbag on the seat next to him, her soft, worn ear cluched in his hand between his index finger and thumb. He was startled by a laugh in his ear as one of the boys launched himself over the seat behind him and grabbed the gearbag off the seat next to Jack.

   
“Oooh, how is Fatty Jackie today? How-”

   
Jacks heart stopped at the exact same second as the boys sentence fell away. Before he could move, he felt Jess leave his his hand, and the boy was holding Jacks lifeline aloft in the middle of the bus, far beyond Jacks reach.

   
The entire team burst into laughter as they began to throw Jess around the bus, each boy tossing an insult in Jacks direction as they went. But Jack heard nothing but his own heartbeat as Jess’ tiny body made its way down the bus. Finally, a tall red-headed boy at the back, the one that held Jacks head down the toilet one day after practice, finally got his hands on Jess, gave Jack a huge smile and waved Jess teasingly in his direction, before flinging the tiny stuffed animal out of the open bus window and onto the highway.

  
Jack didn’t call Papa that day. His dinner went cold on the table but he told Alicia that Coach wanted him to diet anyway. His hands shook too much to tie his laces for weeks afterward and he was alone when the nightmares woke him. Years later, when he felt the cold bathroom floor tile again his cheek, and his vision start to blur, he felt the softness of worn fur between his index finger and thumb, and the faint scent of a perfume he hadn’t smelled in years.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked this!! Come find me on tumblr as ohh-watson :) Comments and Kudos are very appreciated!!


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